FREE Email Newsletter

Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

The Netherlands - Officials from Boeing, Royal Ten Cate, Stork Fokker and the University of Twente signed an agreement today to establish the Thermoplastic Composites Research Centre (TPRC) at the University of Twente in The Netherlands. Reasons for pursuing research into thermoplastic composites technologies are that they can offer cost-efficient fabrication and assembly processes and have environmental advantages.

Detroit Tool Metal Products says it's closing its plant in Fort Madison and consolidating operations at one central facility at its headquarters in Lebanon, Mo. The company in a statement on Thursday says the Iowa plant would close by the end of the year in an effort to cut costs and become more competitive.

Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc. said it has named Lawrence G. Hund president and chief operating officer of its financial services division. Hund, 53, replaces Perry Glassgow as president of Harley-Davidson Financial Services Inc.

Revolution is the world’s first ratcheting open-end wrench. The ratcheting feature allows sequential strokes without the need to remove and reposition the wrench, and the three point touch grab helps to maintain grip even with badly worn hexagonal nuts. According to the company, safety is also promoted by the Revolution because less repositioning reduces the chance of contacting a neighboring hazard or a dangerous moving object.

Bradley has added a point of use valve to its Navigator® line: a lead-free 3/8” compression thermostatic mixing valve (TMV). The only lead free 3/8” compression TMV on the market, it contains less than 0.25 percent lead content and meets lead free requirements as defined by CA AB 1953, which, according to the company, makes the valves even safer for commercial applications and better for the environment.

Industrial Magnetics, Inc. has revamped its Ceramic & Rare Earth Plate Magnet line to include new features, more products and price reductions on many of the exposed pole, flush face and spout magnet models. The company’s plate magnets are designed for magnetic separation in angled chute applications, with either above-the-flow or below-the-flow installation.

Creform Corporation has released the Warehouse Picking Cart, designed to improve lean practices by efficiently moving parts or boxes from one manufacturing station to another. Its maneuverability also allows it to be used for warehouse order picking and kitting.

A pulp and paper mill part-owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska agreed Monday to compensate about 2,000 workers who have been struggling to feed their families since the plant on the shores of Lake Baikal closed last year.

"Black boxes" — or, more precisely, the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder — came into general use in civil aviation during the 1950s. They have evolved over the years and today's generation are highly sophisticated digital devices able to withstand intensely high temperatures — and, in the world's deepest oceans, crushing water pressures. They are housed in extremely strong metal boxes designed to be resistant to all but the most violent impacts.

For years, the Environmental Protection Agency has endorsed the recycling of ground-up tires to cushion the surfaces of children's playgrounds and sports fields — the same material used for the Obama family's new White House playground.

A $7 million federal grant program to help train laid-off autoworkers and other unemployed people for new careers may not seem like much, but Education Secretary Arne Duncan said it was money immediately available and more help will be on the way.

Ford Motor Co. will provide $125 million or more in debtor-in-possesion financing to Visteon Corp. as the automotive parts supplier reorganizes under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday, Visteon, which filed for bankruptcy protection last week, said its former parent company would provide aid and also take assignment of Visteon's asset-backed loans under a revolving credit facility.

Technical fabrics maker Glen Raven has a range of GlenGuard®FR fabrics for industrial protective apparel. The fabrics are designed to be lighter weight and more flexible while exceeding NFPA 70E industrial safety standards for thermal and body burn protection.

Orders to U.S. factories rose 0.7 percent in April, the second increase in three months and further evidence that manufacturers may be recovering. Still, the Commerce Department's report Wednesday was below analysts' expectations of a 0.

The next generation CPS refrigerant leak detector can sense leaks as small as 0.1 oz per year. Fully automatic one button operation detects most refrigerants including R410A. Two LED readouts are used to indicate the concentration and location of the leak. Learn more: www.